Shrewsbury MP calls for sanctions over Russian pipeline
A Shropshire MP has called on the British Government to impose sanctions on all companies involved in constructing a pipeline between Russia and Germany.
Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury, said the Nord Stream 2 pipeline presented an 'existential threat' to Poland and other East European countries.
Mr Kawczynski, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Poland, said Britain should follow the lead of the United States by imposing sanctions against the companies involved.
Work on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would allow the Russian gas company Gazprom to export natural gas to Germany, began in 2018, and it was due to come into operation in the middle of this year. However, work on the scheme, which would see 1.9 trillion cubic feet of Russian gas supplied to Germany every year, has been delayed by US sanctions.
Mr Kawczynski said by making Germany and its neighbours dependent on Russian gas, Vladimir Putin would be able to hold that part of Europe to ransom.
"It is difficult to overstate the scale of the betrayal this pipeline represents," he said.
"Germany is a Nato member, committed on paper to the defence of the continent against potential Russian meddling and influence.
Rogue
"Yet not only does Berlin consistently fail to commit anything like the two per cent of GDP to defence that is expected of Nato members, but it is now actively putting hard currency in the hands of the very rogue powers the alliance exists to contain."
Mr Kawczynski said every euro that Germany spent on importing Russian gas was money that could be spent on building a diversified energy and oil sector in Europe.
"Worse, binding Germany’s industrial power into Vladimir Putin’s energy network leaves the EU’s pre-eminent member state increasingly exposed to Russian influence – and dependent on Russian goodwill."
Mr Kawczysnki said he had raised his concerns with the Prime Minister, but ministers had told him that Britain was still bound by EU policy during the transition period.
This, he said, made it more important than ever that there should be no extension of the transition period beyond December 31.
"We have a duty to our NATO allies, especially those on the front line in Eastern Europe, to take back control of our foreign policy, reinforce the American sanction regime, and make sure that Nord Stream 2 is never completed," he says.
"The fate of more than one nation may depend on it."
